Raizy Rubin, Rabbi Mendel's wife, left, and Rachel Maslow, 21, president of L'Chaim Jewish student group, center, make light of their work as they form dough into Challah bread rolls on Thursday, Oct. 4, 2012, at Shabbos House Rohr Chabad Jewish in Albany, N.Y. (Cindy Schultz / Times Union)

When does a homemade treat or savory side dish serve far more than the few who get to enjoy it in person? When the recipe used to make it finds its way into one of the many fundraising cookbooks published every year.

"We've done some really good books," said David Bradley, chief executive officer of Fundcraft Publishing, a company based in Collierville, Tenn., that has been publishing personalized cookbooks for more than 50 years.

Some raise funds for research on cancer and chronic disorders, while others support services or programs. Some publications simply ensure that culinary customs and familial traditions will be enjoyed by future generations.

Bradley said he has seen a shift over the years, with fewer people spending time in the kitchen and making meals from scratch. But he said the idea of creating a lasting culinary heritage doesn't seem to be abating.

"I think the main reason the program works is that ... it is set around hometown family recipes," he said.

Cookbook Publishers, of Lenexa, Kan., has been helping aspiring cookbook-makers since 1947.

"I think people look to do fundraisers for different reasons," said Stephanie Jones, the company's marketing and customer service manager. "Maybe it is for a new oven for your church or playground equipment and computers for your school. But everyone is looking for something that is going to last and that can be personal, yet involve the community ... and is something that can evoke memories for years to come."

Even for those who don't cook, it can be comforting to have that copy of a friend or family member's recipe. "When you pick up one of those books and see Mary Smith's recipe for apple pie," Jones said, "you have that connection to her."

In effect, it is a chance to take that tattered and well-worn recipe card, often bearing remnants of the ingredients listed on it, or a dish passed down by word-of-mouth, and share it with the many others who have asked, "How did you make that?"

"We have people who call from California or North Carolina looking for the book, so they can give it as a gift," said Margaret Danes, a member of the charity.

Perhaps the callers have moved away since the book's original printing – it's on to its eighth – and their neighbors have had a chance to taste some of its delicacies. For Danes, the answer is easy.

"They know it is good," she said of the 194-page spiral-bound book, which costs $15. Proceeds from the sale support the society's efforts.

With its hints and its "treasury of tips," the book has gathered all that inside information that perhaps once traveled from generation to generation through stories and less-than-precise advice. Just what is a handful of flour or crushed garlic anyway?

"When someone said a cup of this or a cup of that, it could be a tea cup or a mug," Danes said. "So we took the recipes and translated them so that we knew that pinch of salt was actually half-a-teaspoon. We wanted to have something to hand down to the next generation."

Demand prompted the creation of Shabbos House's "A Taste of Shabbos House" As a "home away from home" for Jewish students at University at Albany-SUNY area, the center can easily find itself cooking for hundreds of students on a given Friday or Saturday evening and on Jewish holidays. As students graduated and moved on, they missed the meals that had sustained them, "The recipes are all easy and not complicated," said Raizy Rubin, the Shabbos House co-director along with her husband Rabbi Mendel Rubin. "These are good, easy, tried and true dishes, well-liked by lots of people."

Although she can create many of the dishes from memory, she said she still has to turn to the cookbook from time to time. It also can be a boon for the many student volunteers who help out in the kitchen every weekend.

Proceeds from the book's sale, which goes for $20, serve the students. In fact, graduating seniors get a copy of the cookbook as a gift.

Statistics are hard to come by when it comes to fundraising and keepsake cookbooks published each year, but at Blurb, a Web-based self-publishing service, cookbooks are the fourth-largest category behind family, wedding and photo books, according to Lauren Pattison, who handles its marketing. There are more than 2,600 cookbook titles available for purchase at the site that have raised funds for such causes as disaster relief after the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami and the 2010 Haitian earthquake.

"Cookbooks are huge and growing," Pattison said. "We definitely see people who want to find a new way to capture those recipes on tattered pieces of paper."

Technology has aided this trend, she added. With the shift to digital, recipes can be saved and shared more easily. Publishers also offer assistance in project planning, since the cost depends on the breadth of the project, the sophistication of the packaging and what percentage of sales is going toward the cause.

If such a project seems like a good idea, those who have done it suggest doing your homework first by researching publishers, getting a group together to help with the work, establishing a budget and assessing sales interest early on — maybe opting for presale — to ensure that all that work will not be for naught.

Finally, there's the chance to have a lot of fun, too. In this case, too many cooks in the kitchen is a good thing.